What was a *funeral ring*?

A funeral ring was a mourning ring distributed to named beneficiaries under the terms of a will. The deceased had stipulated in life that after their death a certain number of rings should be made and distributed among relatives, friends and social peers. In Tudor and Stuart England this practice was widespread - wills often record twenty to a hundred rings as a bequest. The rings carried the initials and date of death of the deceased and were meant to keep their memory alive permanently.

What distinguishes a Tudor ring from a Stuart ring?

Stylistically both are memento mori in orientation, but with different emphases. Tudor rings (1485–1603) are often heavier, with a sculptural skull or skeleton figure, Gothic and Renaissance in ground. Stuart rings (1603–1714) are finer, frequently with a table-cut diamond over an enamelled skull on a white ground, Baroque in ground. The Stuart mourning rings made after the execution of Charles I (1649) form a specific sub-category with a political, royalist connotation.

How was the *funeral ring* custom paid for?

Out of the estate of the deceased. The will set aside a sum for the making of the rings - with wealthy aristocrats often several hundred pounds sterling (six figures in today's purchasing power). The rings were commissioned by the executor from a London goldsmith and distributed to the beneficiaries after the funeral, often with an accompanying mourning card or list of inscriptions.

What became of the custom after 1714?

It continued seamlessly into the Georgian eighteenth century. In fact the funeral ring custom reached its height under George II and George III - the deaths of Princess Charlotte (1817), Queen Charlotte (1818) and of many aristocrats prompted elaborate bequests of rings. Only with the Victorian mourning-jewellery system, which put individual workshop commissions to the fore, does the bequest practice lose its significance - it effectively ends around 1870.

Tudor Mourning and Stuart Bequest Rings

The Tudor and Stuart era in England (1485–1714) is the birth period of the modern mourning-jewellery system - from the memento mori ring of Henry VIII's day, through the funeral ring bequests of the Elizabethan aristocracy, to the Stuart mourning ring following the execution of Charles I (1649) and the death of Charles II (1685).

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